agitate

Torres captured the broader institutional despair bluntly when he admitted he lacked confidence in regulators but felt there was “no choice but to agitate for accountability.”

From Salon ● May 9, 2026

They are notorious goons, despised virtually everywhere for their ability to agitate, aggrieve and annoy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026

Lai previously told visitors there would be "no surprises" in his national day address, in a bid to reassure them that he would not do anything further to agitate Beijing.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2024

“Oftentimes, we agitate a situation, we don’t have to take a person into custody,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2024

After a decadent lunch of goose sandwiches and chocolate pudding, Emma began to agitate for the older kids to go swimming.

From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

And this is kind of a shame, because the story agitates the brain far more than it does the stomach.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025

Conversely, when researchers injected the rats with a substance that agitates the immune system, the inflammatory cytokine levels rapidly shot up.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 5, 2024

Tinseltown, it seems, is in the midst of an AI boom — even as its creative class agitates for limits on how that technology gets deployed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2023

"The Duke" has its heart in the right place, too, championing a principled man who agitates against inequality.

From Salon ● Apr. 22, 2022

And then something else happens that agitates Helmuth, that makes him all the more determined to wake up the people of Germany.

From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Two short video clips were shown to the court, with Jones describing Mogan as being in an "agitated and angry state".

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

The assailant still appears agitated, and the teacher, an older man, continues to stand between the two and shouts “stop” and “calm down” at the agitated student.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

We have agitated for paid parental leave, universal childcare, better public schools, child allowances, and other help for struggling parents.

From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026

While Starmer floundered in the polls, Burnham agitated for change.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

She’d been so agitated by the visions in the doorways that she must have summoned every bit of silver in the surrounding countryside.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

“We do not know the answer, but we have seen them take this approach in other situations when agitating for change,” Moskow said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

Internally, he began agitating to offer a more fair deal to the firm’s investors amid all the losses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

Landlocked Ethiopia, home to around 130 million people and one of Africa’s strongest economies, has been agitating for sea access.

From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026

The dollar rallied, even though Warsh has been agitating for more rate cuts, which tend to undermine the dollar’s value.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2026

After agitating for so long for the race, he said no to Swope’s proposal.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand